G for Girlfriend
by WhiteWisteria
Summary: Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness
1. Chaputa Ichi: Love is in the Air

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. snow mirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

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**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

**Val·en·tine's Day** or **Val·en·tines Day **(See also **Saint Valentine's Day**.)

**n** : a day for the exchange of tokens of affection (syn: **Valentine Day**, **Valentine's Day**, **Saint Valentine's Day**, **St Valentine's Day**, **February 14**)

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**Chaputa ichi: Love is in the Air**

"Natsume-kun! Natsume-kun!" A nauseating female voice called out his name persistently.

Natsume covered his ears in vain.

Imagine him,_ the_ Hyuuga Natsume, being forced to hide in the janitor's office because of a certain species: female humans.

The indignity of it all.

"Natsume kun! Where are you? I have got chocolates for you!"

Natsume almost snorted out loud at that.

What was he? A dog?

He could always chase her away by burning her hair, as he had done to her other counterparts, but he was still recovering from the mission last night and his flame was a tiny miserable _miniature_ speck of light.

"Natsume!" The tone of her voice had changed to plaintive.

Natsume shuddered in disgust.

Bloody Valentine's Day.

If he could go back in time, he would eliminate the person who originated Valentine's Day.

Everytime _that_ time of year came about, the female species go haywire. Well, during normal days they were already like that (At this time, Natsume smirked as he thought of a certain clumsy female with auburn hair) but during this day, only this day, they unravel completely, turning into man-hunting creatures of the dark.

The horror of it all.

"Natsume?" He suddenly froze as the voice came nearer. Too near in fact.

_Quick, where to hide? _Natsume thought frantically as he scanned the tiny, dark room cluttered with brooms, mops, buckets and every cleaning object available on the planet.

"Are you in there?"

The doorknob twisted.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit._ Natsume cursed frantically.

Then he saw it.

The door opened and a black haired female peeped in, her green eyes glittering. Oo, scary.

For a while, there was taunting silence.

Then.

_SLAM._

"Natsume-kun! Where are you?"

A sigh of relief was heard and we see our dashing hero lift up the bucket on his head and push away all the brooms leaning on him.

Quietly, he opened the door and slipped out into the cool air awaiting.

At the corner, he leaned against the wall and shifted his head slightly to see whether were there any potential 'danger' lurking around.

_Whew, no one. _

He let out a sigh of relief and was about to walk into the corridor when...

"Is that Natsume!"

"Ohh!" Someone squealed in excitement.

"Where? Where?"

In the five seconds that ensued, Natsume found himself in a rather undignified position under the stairway.

_I really need to do something about this. It is getting out of hand._

"But I DID see him!"

"Where is he?"

Even as the voices faded away, Natsume continued to squat under the staircase just in case.

In the past, it hadn't been that bad because Ruka was there suffering with him. And he had been able to use his flame.

But ever since Ruka (that traitor) got together with Imai Hotaru, Natsume found himself the sole receiver of the unwelcome attention from the fan girls.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

_A girlfriend! That is what I need! Why didn't I think of it before?_

Smirking now, Natsume turned to the next critical question.

_Who?_

Slowly, he sieved through his mind the possible candidates available:

_Fan girls. _Definitely Out

_Otonashi. _Too weird. She would probably make me dance before she accepts.

_Shoda and friend. _No way.

_Nonoko and Anna. _Too ditzy.

_Imai. _Ruka would kill me.

Natsume was getting despaired. Was there a single decent female in this school?

_Maybe I should just get Ruka to be my boyfriend. That will really scare them off._ Natsume thought grumpily. But then, _Imai_ would probably kill me.

Sighing, Natsume stood up. Squatting was definitely not a good position to be in when he wanted to think.

As he walked out into the corridor, something hit him really hard.

"Oof." The thing let out a choked sound as it bumped into him and fell backwards onto the ground.

Natsume looked down and found himself looking at a very dizzy looking Sakura Mikan.

Natsume glared down at her as he drawled out scathingly," Oi, watch where you are going, Polka dotted panties."

He watched in amusement as the dizziness immediately switched to annoyance as she glared back at him and yelled," Mou Natsume! Stop calling me that!"

As he continued to watch her struggle to her feet, a thought struck him.

He smiled.

"Oi, baka youjo." He waited until she was looking at him then," Will you be my girlfriend?"

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**translations**

**.baka youjo: **stupid little girl

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**A/n: Natume is a bit ooc here...gomen...watch out for the next chapter! "Demo, what is Boyfriend?" Oh mikan...**

**Review please :')**


	2. Chaputa Futatsu: What is a Boyfriend

**. G for Girlfriend . **

. snowmirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

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. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .

boy·friend

_n._

1. A favored male companion or sweetheart.

2. A male friend.

n : a man who is the lover of a girl or young woman; (syn: **fellow**, **beau**, **swain**, **young man**)

-----------------------------------------

**Chaputa Futatsu: What is a Boyfriend**

"Oi, baka youjo." He waited until she was looking at him then," Will you be my girlfriend?"

There was an extremely long silence as they stared at each other.

As Natsume stared into her light gold eyes, he got this awful feeling that she didn't understand what he mean, something she promptly confirmed with her next question.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I will be your boyfriend." Natsume answered in thr most round-about way he could manage.

_Please **please** don't make me explain what is a boyfriend to her._

Natsume prayed with all his heart (something he had never done before) to no one and anyone in particular.

He even sent a prayer to Jinno just in case.

_She can't be as dense as that._

"Demo, what is a boy-friend?"

He could have cheerfully murdered her on the spot then.

He suddenly understood why Imai constantly use the baka gun on her 'best' friend when they converse. Or rather, when Mikan talks to her.

Now, he would dearly love to borrow the weapon from Imai, whom he was beginning to respect seeing that she had to deal with Mikan on a daily basis.

But then, Mikan was his only way out now. Without her help, he would die. Like immediately. Consumed by ranveous man-hunting creatures of the dark. Never to see the light again for eternity.

He gave a steely eyed glare to Mikan, who was looking at him expectantly.

It was downright embarrassing.

Absolutely mortifying for him to have to explain to someone he was asking to be his girlfriend what a boyfriend was.

"I will explain this only _once_."

Mikan nodded eagerly.

Natsume coughed again.

_How mortifying._

He took a deep breath.

"Aboyfriendissomeonethatismorethanafriendtothepersonandtheyholdhandswhentheyaretogether." _A boyfriend is someone that is more than a friend to the person and they hold hands when they are together._

This female and male thing was so _not_ his forte.

"Um, like you and Ruka?"

"No." Natsume gritted out.

"And since when have you seen me holding hands with Ruka?" He drawled out sarcastically.

Her brows creased into a confused expression.

"They have to be of the opposite sex." He quickly said it before she could ask another idiotic question.

"Oh! You mean just like Hotaru and - "

"Yes." Natsume nearly sighed the word out in relief, cutting off Mikan from finishing what she was going to say.

She would never know that what he thought she was going to say was 'Ruka'.

And he would never know that what she was going to say was 'I'.

If he did, he would have cremated her on the spot.

Just when he thought he had nailed it, she asked him something he would never expect her to ask.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you to be my boyfriend?" She elaborated, looking suspiciously at him.

The baka youjo was proving to be not as baka as she looked to be.

_Because a voice in my head is telling me to if I don't want to die at such a young age._

"Because I-" Natsume was about to gave an excuse when-

"Ahhhh! There he is!"

"Natsume-kun!"

He turned to see a horrifying sight: the entire school's female population was almost upon them, valentine's day'sgifts galore in their hands as they waved it frantically at him.

Natsume cursed under his breath and quickly turned to the girl standing besides him.

"I promise never to set any part of you on fire again if you become my girlfriend." He got out quickly, all the while eyeing nervously the quickly approaching mob.

"Okay!" Mikan smiled.

"Baka." Natsume muttered under his breath.

If he had known this way would work, he would have done it long ago.

But now that he had succeeded, all he had to do was to put it in action.

He smiled.

He was finally _free_.

-----------------------------------------

Like a wildfire spreading, it was soon all over the school that _the_ elusive Hyuuga Natsume, the one so widely coveted by girls in the entire academy, had finally asked someone to be his girlfriend.

That someone being the previously no star, clumsy Sakura Mikan.

Immediately, the nurse taking shifts in the sickbay noted a sharp rise in the number of unconscious female patients checking in.

Throughout the whole school, a notable bout of depression seemingly descended on the entire female population.

But none, I emphasize, _none_ could compare to the reaction of one Shouda Sumire.

"Iiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

-----------------------------------------

Meanwhile...

Narumi-sensei was busy admiring the lovely weather outside while sipping a cappuccino from the faculty room when the furious war cry suddenly blasted throughout the whole school.

"Iiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!""

He did the only thing one would do in his shoes: he spat out the mouthful of cappuccino straight onto the face of poor, unsuspecting Jinno-sensei who was unfortunately passing by.

There was a moment of silence as the guilty and the unfortunate one stared at each other.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Na-ru-mi SENSEI!" The cappuccino covered Jinno-sensei roared out as electricity crackled around him.

"Hehe..at least it was cold?" Narumi-sensei answered not very intelligently as he smiled an apologetic smile at the irate man.

In the far distance, a volcano erupted.

"Ah! Gomenasai! Gomenasai!" Narumi-sensei cried out as he ran away, with tears streaming from his eyes, from the lightning cloud chasing him.

Serena-sensei, from the corner she was safely seated, raised a brow as she contemplated the visions the crystal ball was giving her.

"Well, Natsume finally made his move."

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In the far corner of the school, in the greenhouse, Misaki sensei was crouched next to a bonzai plant as he trimmed it carefully with the sharp gardening tool he held in his hands.

Slowly, he eased the tool into the midst where the offending branch was.

He had to be careful, any wrong move -

"Iiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!""

_Snip._

A bundle of branches and leaves fell down onto the ground.

Misaki-sensei stared in growing horror at the humongous hole he had just created.

_No._

_Not my favorite bonzai plant._

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Now _that_ is what we call a scream.

-----------------------------------------

"Is it just me or has the school suddenly gotten noisier?" Mochu asked suddenly as ear-piercing screams suddenly seemed to fill the academy's air.

Ruka looked up from where he was seated with Hotaru and frowned.

Mochu was right.

"I wondered what has-" Ruka stopped as a girl suddenly burst past the open classroom door, wailing loudly.

"...happened." He finished off lamely.

"I never want to live again. Not now that Natsume has gotten a girlfriend." Koko recited out calmly, obviously reading the sobbing girl's thoughts.

Because of the way he said it, it took a few seconds for the class to understand the importance of what he had just said.

Together, in unison, they shouted out one single word," _**NANI?**_"

-----------------------------------------

Natsume was smiling inwardly as they proceeded down the now filled with wailing females of all ages, size and shapes to their classroom.

Freedom was sweet.

As they stepped into the classroom, everyone turned to look at him, and at the still oblivious Mikan curiously.

Apparently, the news had already reached here.

"Ohaiyo minnasan!" She called out cheerily.

The only answers were mumbles.

"Natsume-kun." Sumire sidled up at the moment and smiled sugary sweet at him.

Then her eyes traveled down to their joined hands.

To say she was angry was a master of an understatement.

Once again, in the distance, volcano Sumire erupted.

"Mikan SAKURA!" She bellowed, her eyes simply sparking wrath and headed for the terrified Mikan, who ran immediately away despite not knowing why exactly she was being chased.

Natsume simply raised a brow in amusement and went to his seat, where Ruka was.

Beside him, Ruka leaned over and whisper, "Aren't you going to do something?"

Natsume simply smirked and buried his nose in the new edition manga he got yesterday.

He promised not to burn her hair. He never promised to be her knight in shining armor.

_Besides, who in the world would interrupt a good show?_

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**A/n: Hehe..never expected so many people to review but thanks bunches! A miniature Natsume for all of you! **

**Watch out for the next chapter: The revenge of the 'man-hunting creatures of the dark'! A dozen 'Mikans' have appeared in school! What is going on? Oh, poor Natsume…Argh! Don't burn me! **

Reviews will be much appreciated!


	3. Chaputa Mittsu: They Who Schemed

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. Snowmirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

-----------------------------------------

**. Author's Note .**

A note before the story commences, the fan club herefore mentioned in this chapter is not under Sumire's...This is the darker and the ORIGINAL fanclub...

**Ah, and something I failed to make clear earlier on, Valentine's day is actually not here yet...Chapter one was set on two days before Valentine's Day :')**

Meanwhile, enjoy the story :')

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**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

-**re·venge**

_tr.v._ **re·venged,** **re·veng·ing,** **re·veng·es **

1. To inflict punishment in return for (injury or insult). 2. To seek or take vengeance for (oneself or another person); avenge.

_n._

1. The act of taking vengeance for injuries or wrongs; retaliation. 2. Something done in vengeance; a retaliatory measure.

3. A desire for revenge; spite or vindictiveness. 4. An opportunity to retaliate, as by a return sports match after a defeat.

(syn: **avenge**, **retaliate**)

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**Chaputa mittsu: They who schemed**

_Valentine's Day Eve..._

In a dark and remote corner of the Alice Academy, where no one dares to tread, a secret emergency meeting was ongoing in one of the rooms.

Anyone walking past would have seen a large sign hanging outside the door.

**SECRET EMERGENCY MEETING for the members of the HNFC! Members ONLY! Trespassers will be PROSECUTED, MAIMED and TAKEN DOWN before DYING. (P.S: You won't want to try us, believe me.)**

It really leads to people wondering whether these people know the meaning of secret.

Taking a look inside, we see an alarming large number of females of all ages, shapes and sizes inside the room, perched on every surface possible.

There, standing in front was a girl, apparently the leader of this unorthodox meeting.

A terrifyingly familiar girl if this author might say.

A girl with black hair and glinting green eyes.

Yes, she is the man-hunting creature of the darkness who managed to force our dashing hero Hyuuga Natsume into the broom closet with a pail on his head and a bunch of mops on him.

"Attention all members of the HNFC! This morning, we received a terrible piece of news. It seems that our Natsume-kun -sniff- has gotten a - sniff - _girlfriend!"_

At her words, a sudden wave of wailing hit the roof as everyone reached for the tissue boxes apparently strategically positioned for this very purpose.

Eventhe girlcouldn't contain her grief and snatched a tissue from a nearby table to wipe away her tears.

"Anno, President, what does **HNFC** stands for? I thought we were the **NKILC**." A slightly sniffling voice suddenly asked.

"The **H**yuuga **N**atsume **F**an **C**lub. It is more professional-sounding than **N**atsume-**k**un **I** **L**ove **Y**ou **C**lub (**NKILC**). Natsume-kun will definitely take us more seriously now!" She declared proudly, her tears forgotten as she became starry-eyed about thoughts of getting Natsume-kun's coveted approval.

'Oh's and 'Ah's immediately surface at the President's thoughtfulness.

"We will not give up so easily just because Natsume-kun has taken a girl to be his girlfriend!" She continued, getting into the heat of things.

Nods and cries of agreement accompanied the fiery statement.

"Now we know what Natsume-kun likes! So, as members of the Hyuuga Natsume Fan Club, we will become what Natsume-kun likes!"

"Yay!"

"Natsume-kun, we will love you forever!"

"Yay!"

"Sakura Mikan, be prepared!"

"Yay!"

"Let's all strive for this Valentine's Day!"

"YAY!"

"BE QUIET WILL YOU!" Someone shouted in annoyance from the outside.

-----------------------------

Meanwhile, at the elementary school's dormitory...

Natsume walks out of his room, on his way to the elementary branch.

He was in extremely high spirits, not that he showed it on his face.

After all, a dancing and singing Hyuuga Natsume would do nothing for his image, except shatter it into million pieces immediately.

Still, he could not keep a tinny, winny smirk from lingering at the edges of his mouth.

That baka doesn't even know that she is being used but whatever, as long as he benefits.

"Natsume! Matte!" At the sound of his best friend's call, Natsume turned around and waited for the running Ruka to catch up.

When Ruka caught up, panting slightly from the effort, he turned and continued to walk through the cherry blossoms covered walkway.

It was the cherry blossom season again. Natsume watched as the pink tinted flowers fluttered down with the gentle wind to land softly at his feet.

It was a sight even he would appreciate.

"You seem happy." Ruka remarked after a while, breaking the silence, his gaze assessing as he looked at Natsume.

"What is it?" Natsume drawled out instead, nimbly sidestepping the question.

He had seen the look in Ruka's eyes since he saw him, the look that says that he really wants to ask something but he has some difficulty asking it.

"I - um - would like to - um - borrow some rabbits from you." Ruka managed to stutter out after a while, a light embarrassed blush on his face.

Natsume slanted a look at Ruka in speculation.

As a three star, the allowance Ruka received was not a small sum.

For him to need money like this, it must be something really expensive. And Natsume was willing to bet that Imai had something to do with it.

And for Ruka to be embarrassed about asking, definitely Imai.

He simply looked at Ruka and waited for the reason.

Ruka fished around in his pockets before he took out a crumpled up piece of paper and handed it over silently to Natsume.

Natsume smoothed out the paper and read the neat handwriting and found himself letting out a snort of laughter. There, written in bold and underlined, was the title in Imai's recognizable handwriting:

**LIST OF VALENTINE DAY'S GIFTS**

**1. 10 bottles of crab roe**

**2. A new set of tools**

**3. Financing for ongoing project.**

**4. Watermelons**

"Watermelons?" Natsume lifted a brow at the weird request.

"She was complaining the weather was too hot lately." Ruka mumbled.

"Hn."

He turned back to the list.

The list went on and on, ending only at the last item, one that had been circled over and over again in red ink:

**40. A diamond bracelet **

That was not all.

At the end of the paper was a small note.

**No roses. I am allergic.**

Sometimes, Natsume really pitied Ruka, but who was he to say?

"I have gotten all of the items but the last." Ruka muttered miserably.

In silence, Natsume reached into his pocket and pulled out 600 hundred rabbits in notes and handed it over to Ruka, who gratefully accepted.

"Arigatou Natsume, I will pay you as soon as possible!" Ruka smiled.

"Don't bother." Natsume waved it off.

"What about Mikan?"

"What about the baka?"

"Aren't you going to give her something?"

"What for?" Natsume drawled out.

"She is your girlfriend now, and Valentine's day is tomorrow." Ruka stated, looking at Natsume in surprise.

"Doesn't mean I need to get her a gift. Besides, she probably doesn't know what valentine's day is." Natsume smirked as he thought of his baka "girlfriend".

"Oh...another thing, Hotaru wanted me to pass this to you." Ruka passed a small letter to Natsume, who looked at it suspiciously before accepting it.

What the hell was Imai doing sending letters to him all of a sudden?

_Natsume,_

_If you ever make that baka cry, I will bash you through the wall with my newest invention._

_P.S.: Further description of invention at the back. Sold at 1000 rabbits each. Payments please make to Imai Hotaru, Alice Academy Elementary Branch, Room 67._

_Yours Truely, Imai._

_P.P.S: You have been warned._

Sure enough, at the back was a manual.

"Ruka, your girlfriend is scary." Natsume said as he crunched up the letter in his hand and tossed it behind him.

Silence. Then:

"I try not to think about it."

-----------------------------

**Who is the real Mikan? And is that Tsubasa senpai I see? Wait, what is he doing here? ****Watch out for the next part of this chapter: Continuation of 'A dozen Mikans on the loose'...will hell break lose? Special guest appearance by Jin-jin and a very confused but still cool Tsubasa Sempai next chapter!**

**See you guys next chapter! _(miniature hotaru up for grabs next chapter lol)_**


	4. Chaputa Yottsu: Of Mikans and fires

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. Snowmirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

-----------------------------------------

**. Dedications .**

To **aeyteenicole**, who was the one to catalysed the writing of this chapter

**BlueRuff-chan** for being my friend

**Julia Loves You** for being such a wonderful friend and reviewer

And lastly, to **littledoggy **for simply being the best kohai and friend one can have

To all of you who love this story inspite of all its quirks and bad moments and have reviewed for yours truely, thank you :')

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**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

**im·i·ta·tion** (m-tshn)  
_n._

_1. The act or an instance of imitating.  
2. __Something derived or copied from an original. _

_adj._

Made to resemble another, usually superior material: imitation fur. 

**imi·tation·al** _adj._

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**Chaputa yottsu: Mikan Several Times Over**

Natsume scowled as he made his way to classroom B.

Ruka had headed for Central Town to get his present, leaving Natsume to meander alone to the class.

Somehow, the contents of Imai's little 'note' was ringing in his mind.

As if he could make that baka cry.

He would probably need a sleigh-hammer to slam his insult into her thick skull for her to feel it and start crying.

Then again, she might be crying from the pain and not from the brutality of his insult.

And _why _was he thinking about Imai's note?

As if he cared.

Pushing away the unpleasant topic, Natsume searched his mind for something nicer to ponder about, like...like...um...like...

Whatever.

His scowl deepening, Natsume shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he neared a corner.

The bell rang in a distant corner, signaling the start of classes and a smirk found its way onto Natsume's face.

Ah yes, he had something to look forward to.

His baka girlfriend's arrival.

Every morning without fail, the bell would ring and she would skid around the corner, slip and fall onto the ground, revealing to him the underwear-of-the-day.

Natsume slowed down, preparing to receive her with his usual blistering remarks when he heard a whispered "Go!" before a thundering of footsteps sounded.

And the most amazing sight ever to grace the presence of Hyuuga Natsume happened.

Not one, not two, not three, blast it not even four but sixteen Mikans skidded around the corner, simultaneously tripped and fell with their skirts flipped up to reveal multi-colored panties.

Red strawberries, pink polka-dots, yellow pineapples, orange tangerines seared his vision.

Natsume was scarred for life.

Silence set in, stifling as it was ominous.

A nerve twitched once on Natsume's forehead.

Once.

Twice.

Then...

"Teme.." -twitch- "What do you think you are doing?" A flame leaped up onto Natsume's palm, the orange darkening ominously to a poisonous blue.

Natsume was about to cremate the whole lot of them when he heard something.

Something scarily familiar to be exact.

The calls of the man-hunting creatures of the dark from just around the corner.

Natsume did the only thing one in his shoes would do: he ran for his life.

Undignified mayhap, but hey, we are talking about _monsters _here.

With the mob trailing him crying things like "Natsumeeee-kunnnn! Don't run!", "Date me! Date me!", "Let me give you a kiss!", "I lub you Natsume!", it was no wonder Natsume started sprinting, never mind that his plight was becoming the spotlight of the elementary branch students nor that his reputation was shattering into pieces.

Anything to live.

He skidded around the corner and spotted the one thing that had saved him before: the janitor's office.

Quickly, he twisted the knob of the small wooden door and squeezed himself into the small dark space, slamming the door after him and shutting himself into complete darkness.

He pressed his ear to the door, listening intently.

A few seconds later, a stampede sounded accompanied by the dulcet voices of the females.

Then, they were gone.

Natsume sagged against the door in relief, absently patting the wooden door as part of his gratitude for it having saved his life two times when he heard something.

A small muffled sound that seemed to be coming from the floor.

Do floors talk?

Suspiciously, Natsume prodded the floor with his foot.

And came into contact with something soft.

"Hmmph!" The sound came again, louder this time.

He prodded it harder this time.

"Hmmph!"

It sounded suspiciously human.

Natsume lit up the small space around him with his alice… and found himself face to face with Sakura Mikan.

His baka girlfriend.

Tied up and gagged to be exact.

Natsume crouched down until he was on face level with the gagged female, his flame held a little higher away from his face.

"What," he drawled out slowly as one would to a delinquent child, "are you doing there?"

Agitated amber eyes looked at him as she struggled with her bonds.

Fire swiftly burnt the bonds to ashes, disappearing as suddenly as they had appeared, freeing Mikan's limbs.

"Hmmmmp! Hmmph!"

Right.

He forgot about the silver piece of tape across her mouth.

He reached down and in one swift movement, ripped the tape off her mouth.

"ITAIIII!!!!!" The yell of pain reverberated in the small space, making Natsume wince slightly.

Damn but she was loud.

"Why did you do that for?" She glared at him as she sat up, rubbing agitatedly at her reddening cheeks.

"Would you rather be gagged?" He drawled out too pleasantly, the tape hanging threateningly from his fingers.

"Iie." The reply was quick with a furious shake of her head, earning a smirk from the boy.

"What are you doing there?" He drawled out his original question, a dark brow arched.

"Eh?" Mikan blinked at him several times, her amber eyes blank before…

"AH!" The sudden exclamation threw Natsume off balance and he jerked back slightly as Mikan suddenly let out a stream of words, righteous anger ringing in her voice.

"-and they dragged me in here and gagged me before she let out the _most _horrifying laugh and said that the Hyuuga Natsume Fan Club will win the heart of our beloved Natsume-sama and that he will forget all about me, his puny little girlfriend, and then they slammed the door and I was left in the dark and I never got to tell them how _uncomfortable _it was being tied up and what did I do to them to make them do this to me because I don't even know _them _and there was a broom that was so ticklish against my skin and-"

God, did the woman even know anything about punctuations?

Feeling slightly dizzy from the never-ending stream of words that spewed out from the baka's mouth like tea from a tea spout, Natsume reached forward and forcefully stopped the stream of words with his hand over her mouth, bringing his flame close to her face.

"Urusai." He drawled out, a menacing glint in his eyes.

Her eyes widened and Natsume smirked slightly in satisfaction that she understood her position.

Or not.

She started making weird sounds, gagging sounds at the back of her throat as her hands waved wildly, gesturing at something behind him, her eyes wild.

"Nani?" Natsume snapped in annoyance, his patience running to the hilt, removing his hand from her mouth.

He smelt it first actually; the nasty smell of something burning that was confirmed by the single word gasped out by the brunette a second later.

"FIRE!"

Indeed, everything in the small shed was alight in a fiery blaze that was quickly spreading, clogging up the small space with thick rolling smoke.

He must have held his flame a little too high.

Oh well.

Natsume pushed open the door and pulled the brunette out with him, their bodies connecting hard with the cool marble floor of the corridor as Natsume yelled out," Put out the flames with your alice!"

Mikan, trapped underneath him, nodded frantically and focused her wide amber eyes onto the fire.

For a moment nothing happened and Mikan's amber orbs widened in panic and she cast a helpless look at him.

"Do you want me to burn you first?" Natsume gritted out between clenched teeth.

Then abruptly as the fire had started, it was gone, leaving behind ashes and blacked walls.

Threatening _always _work.

The two, culprit and victim, were left staring at the smoking room in relief, neither hearing the patter of approaching footsteps until Andou Tsubasa appeared in sight.

"Thought I heard your lovely voice, Mikan-chan. You are too slow coming to the special ability class so I thought I would fetch … you." He trailed off lamely, one dark brow disappearing beneath his bangs.

And made them aware of their compromising position: Natsume on top, Mikan below.

Horrified amber eyes met half-amused crimson eyes before with a heart-rending shriek, the brunette shoved off the boy with sudden strength fueled by embarrassment and scrambled to her now slightly amused Tsubasa senpai, her face tinged a deep red.

Tsubasa hoisted the distraught female onto his left shoulder, who was sobbing something about not being able to get married any longer as she clung to him.

With a displeased look on his handsome visage, Natsume picked himself up from the floor he was thrown so unceremoniously onto and walked past the pair, deliberately stepping hard onto Andou's feet as he passed.

A small smirk graced Natsume's lips at the howl of pain from Tsubasa and he threw a dirty look to Tsubasa before disappearing from sight, leaving the shadow manipulator alone with his charge and a certainty that if he hugged Mikan any tighter, he might not live through the rest of his life due to a certain flame caster.

-----------------------------------------

**Meanwhile, we drop by the faculty room to see a very familiar person sitting alone in the empty room…**

Jinno-sensei batted the unfortunate floating pink heart, only one of the _millions _floating around the faculty room courtesy to idiot Narumi (done by using the floating alice), which was obstructing his work as he attempted to mark the growing pile of Maths paper, only to be blocked by another piece of pink heart.

Lightning sizzled around his lanky frame before –Zap! - the pink-turned-black paper landed limply onto the floor, the paper curling weakly at the edges in a weak attempt to float before flopping back onto the floor.

On his shoulder, froggy croaked approvingly as his master continued to write big fat zeros in red pen onto the papers in front of him to vent off his anger at everything in particular.

_Valentine's Day is a curse!_ Jin-jin fumed as he scrawled a huge zero across the page. _Only idiots like Narumi celebrate such things._

In his fury, he zapped down seven more hearts.

"Jinno-sensei?" Serena-sensei's head poked around the door, a small bemused smile on her face as she held out something pink to him.

Jinno-sensei got up and stared in incomprehension at the pink letter and box the female teacher pressed into his palm.

"It is a Valentine's Day letter one of my students wanted me to pass to you. " With that, she was gone in a swish of her gypsy-like skirts, leaving Jinno-sensei to stare at the envelope in his hand with something close to incredulity.

His first Valentine's Day letter.

He had an admirer?

A blush found its way onto the stoic teacher's face as he opened up the envelope with his froggy watching expectantly.

Maybe Valentine's Day wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Dear Jin-jin, **

**I have loved you for a long time, but Narumi-sensei is waaaayyyy cooler. So I decided to change my attentions to Naru-kun! **

**P.S: Do you mind giving these chocolates to Narumi-sensei for me because the faculty room is out of bounds for us students. Love you! **

**Muacks, **

**Your secret admirer **

"That is it! Valentine's Day is going down!"

"Ribbit."

----------------------

**A/n: ****Me thinks Natsume is getting a little possessive of his ickle girlfriend. Poor Jin-jin, he deserves better doesn't he? **

**Ah yes, this is the very much neglected story update ') Gomen neh! I know it is boring but I needed to do this before we trail onto the more interesting parts of the story –whoop- ..**

**Yes, updates are not going to take so long anymore :') So look out for the next chapter Mikan gets a little talk: About flowers and bees and unwilling boyfriends – bwahahhahah – and the arrival of the Missives in Pink! Jealousy ensues and do we get a sleepover between our favorite hero and heroine??? XD **

**Reviews would be salivated over, framed and admired for the rest of this author's miserable life ;') **


	5. Chapter Itsutsu: About birds and bees

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. Snowmirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

-----------------------------------------

**. Dedications .**

To **GhiMiNaRuHo **for making you wait so long for this update. Gomen!

----------------------------------------

**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

**mis·sive** (mĭs'ĭv)

n. A written message; a letter. See Synonyms at letter.

From Middle English (letter) missive, _(letter) sent (by superior authority)_, from Medieval Latin (litterae) missīvae, feminine pl. of missīvus, _sent_, from Latin missus, past participle of mittere, _to send_.

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**Chaputa Itsutsu: About birds and bees **

Inside the Special ability classroom, we find Andou Tsubasa, Harada Misaki and our heroine Sakura Mikan in a very awkward atmosphere.

Well, awkward for Tsubasa and Misaki in any case.

Mikan was looking at them expectantly, her amber eyes avid as she waited for her senpais to start The Talk.

"This is all your fault." Misaki hissed, amber eyes flashing as she elbowed Tsubasa, all the while keeping a forced smile on her face.

"What?" Tsubasa darted a glare at his childhood friend.

"Well, you just had to open your big stupid mouth and ask her _that_!"

"Surely we can't leave her to the mercy of that immature pervert!"

"What pervert? He is only _ten _for God's sake! You are the likelier one."

"Hey! I am only fourteen okay?"

Mikan's head bobbed to and fro from the male to the female as they dropped all pretense of _not _fighting and snipped openly at each other.

"Ano senpai…"

"Nani?!" The question was snapped out from both sides as piercing blue eyes and dark brown eyes fixed on her with alarming clarity.

"Nothing." She squeaked out, squirming slightly under the intense glares fixed on her.

Misaki took a deep breath, proceeded to whack Tsubasa over the head and gave Mikan a smile. "Lets start shall we?"

Mikan nodded eagerly, thus sealing the fate of the two well-meaning seniors.

"Tsubasa will explain it _all._" Misaki's smile changed slightly to reveal her canine teeth as she looked at Tsubasa. "Right, Tsubasa?"

As if he could say no without suffering a fate worse than death.

"Hai, hai." Tsubasa sighed and knelt in front of Mikan, a resigned look on his face.

"Mi-chan, I am going to explain what transpires between a boyfriend and a girlfriend now." A long suffering sigh before he continued, "Ask any questions if you have any doubts."

Almost immediately, Mikan's hand shot up in the air.

Slightly apprehensive, Tsubasa answered, "Hai?"

"What is 'trans-spy'?"

Behind him, Misaki let out a snort of laughter she immediately covered over with a cough.

Tsubasa sighed inwardly. "It means 'happen'."

Mikan's mouth formed a little 'o' of understanding.

_Small words, use small words. _He reminded himself before setting himself unhappily to the arduous task set in front of him.

_Ten minutes later…_

Tsubasa sat back with a sigh on the floor, having concluded the rather embarrassing prep talk with his somewhat clueless kouhai.

Trust him; this was something one would not want to try.

Now, they waited for Mikan's reaction.

First came the somewhat blank look, second came the horrified look, and finally, the loudest exclamation to grace the age of humankind.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH????!!!!!"

-------------------------------------------

Every year they come, in their pink envelopes adorn with flying cupids and heart stickers to boot.

They are the Missives in Pink.

Letters of puppy love and unrequited love that seem to find their way into the lockers, bedrooms, classrooms and belongings of the one Hyuuga Natsume when one nears the horrendous holiday known as 'Valentine's Day'.

It was frightening to say the least, the way they manage to somehow rival the statuesque of a tottering Mt. Everest up close.

A Mt. Everest having undergone a botched paint job that is.

Think of all the poor trees that have been cut to make this possible, of the global warming that would soon set in as a consequence, of the future generation of humankind who will suffer in turn.

Which is why Natsume always make it a point to burn all this to crisp to serve as fertilizer for the trees.

Or rather, that is just an excuse for him to NOT see the censored content within said missives.

Today, being the eve of Valentine's Day, was not any different from any other previous year.

There was a tottering pile (hauled in by the beleaguered Iinchou) sitting in classroom B, and even in the forbidden premises of the dangerous ability classroom, a handful managed to find its way to him.

"Here." Hayate, a dangerous ability student, raised a brow as he shoved something pink into Natsume's arms as soon as the crimson-eyed boy stepped into the classroom.

Natsume shoved them back unceremoniously into the boy's arms, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out of the classroom he just barely walked into.

"Hey, where do you think you are going?" Hayate called out to the back of the flame caster, looking slightly ridiculous with the bundle of pink in his arms.

"Somewhere less pink." Came the irritated drawl.

------------------------------------

He was lying really when he said he was going to somewhere less pink.

Because, right in front of him, there was an extremely pink blob of a human that was dancing about

Having no where else to go after his abrupt departure from the Dangerous ability class, Natsume had headed back to classroom B hoping to find some peace and quiet only to find himself stepping into one of Narumi's impromptu announcements and he had no choice but to sit in, and listen.

Extremely unwillingly.

It was a complete eyesore to behold the form teacher of class B, decked out as he was in shocking pink, complete with little hearts on springs protruding at odd angles from his costume.

"-prepare adequately for tomorrow!" He crowed out happily, doing a little jig much to the dismay of the class, the little heart quavering along with the movement.

Idly, Natsume wondered how much of a commotion it would cause if he incinerated the hearts.

One by one.

It wouldn't be so bad if he did away with the owner too.

"Are you going to go Natsume?" Ruka's voice jerked him and he glanced at the blond with a blank look before he realized what Ruka was talking about.

The annual Valentine's Day ball.

Sorry, the _surprise _Valentine's Day ball.

Every year, the academy hosted a ball in collaboration with the arrival of the festival and it was a day for the students to let down their hair and simply enjoy a night of dancing, staring into each other's eyes dreamily and to express your love for your loved ones.

Since the teachers were in charge of telling the students of upcoming events, Narumi had always made it a point to do it (announcement of the Valentine's Day ball) the day before to 'surprise' the students.

But since he did it every year, it wasn't much of a surprise, except to the new students of course.

Natsume slid his glance over to the baka.

She was behaving very weirdly after she came back from her special ability class; she avoided glancing at him and she was very very quiet. She hadn't even reacted with her usual hyper activeness at the announcement of the upcoming Valentine's Day Ball. It was almost as though she hadn't heard anything Narumi had said.

And Natsume had a gut feeling it had something to do with that idiot Andou.

He brushed away the unpleasant feeling that came over him when he thought of the two of them doing something happily together.

"No." He answered shortly, turning back to Ruka who was looking at him expectantly.

"No? But Sakura…" A frown came over the blond as he looked over to Mikan.

"Hn. I am leaving." He got up as Narumi begun dancing again, ignoring the questioning look from his best friend.

"Matte! Natsume-kun!" Narumi sang out suddenly.

Natsume ignored him and jerked open the door only to have something fell down on him.

A ton of pink missives to be exact.

All addressed to one Hyuuga Natsume.

_Twitch. Twitch. _Went the vein at Natsume's temple.

"Ah, you have a new batch of letters from your fans!"

"...Teme…"

"AHHH!! Put out the fire!"

------------------------------------

Hyuuga Natsume stalked to his room, emitting a stormy wrath in his path that warded off everyone from nearing the flame caster.

Idiot Narumi. Idiot Andou. Idiot fangirls.

And that baka girlfriend of his…something had happened during her time with Andou because she wouldn't meet his eyes and she was avoiding him very indiscreetly.

He would find out the reason soon enough, even if he had to resort to bribery.

Ten boxes of Howalons should do the trick.

He jerked open the door to his special star room, planning on taking a nice long rest and forget about everything that happened today, …and saw red.

Literally.

Every crook, cranny and centimeter square of his room was covered with roses, hearts, chocolate boxes, tiny heart balloons floating in the air like nobody's business.

Natsume slammed the door shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.

Now that his 'nice long rest' was to be forgone, he wasn't exactly in the best of mood. But first things first, he needed a place to spent the night in.

Ruka.

His mind made up, he headed a few doors down to a door where a gold plate bearing the name Nogi Ruka was.

Opening the door without so much as a by-your-leave, he walked in.

"Staying here to…" his words trailed off as he found himself in full view of a sight that would disturb him for the rest of his life.

Imai.

In Ruka's arms.

On the bed.

Lip-locking.

Natsume decided there and then that he would knock on all doors before he opened one.

With a very heartfelt "Damn." Natsume slammed the door.

Breathing hard, he stormed away from the door behind which was a image that should have been censored.

The brain-freezing image was doing cartwheels in his head and giving him a headache.

And it also left him with a more pressing problem.

Where was he going to spend the night?

He looked up then, realizing he had stormed a fair distance away from the disturbing room, and saw something that made him smirk.

A simple gold plate with an innocent name inscribed into it: Sakura Mikan.

His baka 'girlfriend' would never know what hit her.

-------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in a corner of her room, our heroine is pondering upon the speech her senpai had just given her.

A deep red stained the bridge of her nose and her cheeks as she realized what she had just gotten herself into.

What it had meant when Hyuuga Natsume had made her his 'girlfriend'.

"Kyaaaaa…" She moaned out desperately, burying her face into her pillow.

It was _so _embarrassing!

How was she going to face the world after this?

How was she going to face _Hyuuga Natsume _after this?

She wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it forever.

_Knock knock. _

The rapping on her door jerked the brunette from her self-induced misery.

Who could it be at this late an hour? Unless…

_Hotaru! _

She must have missed me after one whole day of not seeing each other!

Mikan slipped down from her bed and eagerly padded over to the door, anticipation spinning giddily in her as she opened the door.

"Hotaru!" She leaped forward, her eyes shining as she wrapped her arms around her visitor.

"Oi."

Mikan blinked from where her head was resting against Hotaru's chest.

"Eh, Hotaru, why is your voice so deep?"

"Baka." Now that she thought about it, Hotaru's voice sounded oddly like Natsume's.

Wait.

Natsume?

Hard chest. Deep voice. The very familiar drawl.

"Eep!" Mikan squeaked out as she leapt away from where she was snuggled against the one and only Hyuuga Natsume.

"Natsume." She choked out, her cheeks on fire as she finally took a proper look at who her visitor was.

Smirking crimson eyes appraised her with sardonic amusement.

"Just because you are my girlfriend doesn't mean that you can molest me, woman." He drawled out.

It took a while for the words to sink in, so badly was she trying not to blush.

"Mo-molest?" She sputtered out, her amber eyes lighting up with a vengeance, "Nat-su-me!"

The crimson eyed male simply smirked, and without a by-your-leave, moved past her into her room.

"What do you think you are doing?" Mikan panicked, one hand shooting out to grab hold of his sleeve.

He ignored her, a critical eye sweeping the room, finally landing on the single bed that dominated the room.

"Small." He commented.

With that single word, he shattered any pride Mikan took in the room, a reward for her hard work in the past.

"Why you…no one asked you for comments! Hmph!" Nettled and insulted, the brunette folded her arms across her chest in annoyance as she bristled at the nonchalant male who had invaded her room without permission.

Giving the room one last lazy scan, Natsume sat down on the bed, eyeing the pink coverlet with bunny prints dubiously.

"What are you doing?!" By now, Mikan's face was a deep puce as steam smoked from her ears. She stormed up to the boy, prepared to haul him up forcibly if needed from her precious bed when he stopped her in her tracks with a single statement.

"I am sleeping here tonight." He raised a brow at her as though daring her to rebuke him.

Mikan felt her jaw drop.

"Sleep.._here_? "She got out weakly as she stared incredulously at the unruffled flame caster already making himself at home in her bed.

"Here." He confirmed lazily, fixing his crimson eyes on her.

Suddenly, Tsubasa senpai's voice came back to her ominously.

_When a male and female sleep together, the female (aka you) will get pregnant. _

Get pregnant.

_Get pregnant. _

Get PREGNANT.

No. No. No. NO. **NO!**

"Da-me!" The shriek burst out of the brunette with a force of a bullet as she flew towards the startled flame caster. "I don't want to get pregnant!"

The passionate exclamation by the brunette was met by silence on Natsume's part; the boy was looking at the brunette as though she had just sprouted another head.

"What are you talking about woman." He drawled out slowly as one would to a dim child.

"Tsubasa-senpai said that if a male and female sleep together, the female will get pregnant!" She wailed out unhappily, oblivious to the sudden throbbing vein that appeared in the flame caster's temple.

_Tsubasa Andou. I am going to _kill _you. _Natsume swore silently even as he aimed an annoyed look at the distraught brunette.

"Who said anything about sleeping together?" The boy drawled out cuttingly.

"Eh? We are not?" In an instant three-hundred-sixty degrees change of mood, the brunette turned from depressed to instantaneous relief in a matter of seconds.

"No. I am sleeping on the bed. _You_," he tossed her pillow and blanket on the floor, "are sleeping on the floor."

"EHHHHHHHHHHH??!!"

--------------------------------------

_Later, in the middle of the night… _

"Stop whining, baka. I need to sleep."

"You stole my bed!"

"…"

_Creak. Thud. _

"What do you think you are do- mmmph!" _Creak. _

"I am letting you sleep on the bed. Be quiet already."

"But I'll become pregnant!"

"You won't be. Howalons neutralize the effects."

"Eh? Really?"

"…I'll get a box tomorrow."

"Okay!"

"Now. Sleep before I burn you. Don't snore."

"I do NOT snore!"

--------------------------------------

Mikan woke sleepily to the sound of the soft chirping outside her window.

A gentle breeze blew in, chilling parts of her skin.

She shifted slightly, cuddling closer to the warm entity that was beside her, her arm moving to drape loosely on it.

"Oi."

The single synonym registered only very vaguely in Mikan's sleep-induced state and she simply moved closer, uttering a sleepy mumble in return.

"Baka youjo."

A frown marred Mikan's face as she wondered why on earth she was hearing Natsume's voice early in the morning when decent humans were supposed to be sleeping.

She batted sleepily around her as though it would chase the sound away half-heartedly, not hearing the curse when her hand hit something hard with a thud.

Natsume glared down at the crown of the sleeping female entwined all around him as her hand hit his nose.

Their legs were tangled up together, one of her hand beneath him, her head tucked under his chin. In their said position, Natsume was finding it very hard to breathe because the idiot was hugging him too tightly and sleeping right on top of him.

And she was drooling on his shirt.

He was going to kill her.

"Oi, bighead." This time, he added a light shove to the shoulder.

She shifted, and lifted her head from its prone position on his chest.

One eyelid cracked open, revealing a sleepy amber eye that looked at him blankly for a while.

He watched in part amusement as recognition filtered in, then horror.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She shoved him, apparently trying to get as far away from him as possible, but she forgot about how they were tangled up together.

They ended up tumbling onto the ground with a painful 'thud' and into a position more compromising than the one before.

A deep blush stained the brunette's cheeks as she realized just how close she was to the flame caster, their noses scant inches away from touching.

At this very moment, a thunder of footsteps sounded right outside Mikan's room (probably drawn by her dulcet tones) and the door was forcibly flung open before they could remedy their positions.

A troop of their classmates filed in, demanding what the matter was before a silence, so thick one could slice through it with a knife, fell.

Eyes pinned onto our two favourite hero and heroine, who were currently trying very hard to appear as though they were not doing anything wrong.

That is, for Mikan anyway.

Natsume simply raised a brow, daring anyone, _anyone _at all to comment.

"AHHHHHH!!! SAKURA MIKAN JUST RAPED NATSUME-KUUNNNNN!!!!"

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**.translations.**

**.dame**: no

----------------------------------------

**.author's note.**

if you all would be so nice as to point out the mistakes in this chapter, i would appreciate it loads:')

another chapter or two, this story will come to an end :') there will be a sequel coming in the future; do you really think i am going to let off our favourite couple so easily? ;'p

next chapter, Koko and gang are up to no good! we have a mysterious love letter to our dear heroine! and Natsume-kun, why are you all green? -grins- preparations for the valentine's day's ball is in full swing, but Ruka, what have you done?

good? bad? Do share :')

**ps: do remember to drop by Gakuen alice reader's choice awards okay :') (link at my profile)**


	6. Chaputa muttsu: The Love letter In Quest

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. Snowmirage .

-----------------------------------------

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

-----------------------------------------

**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

**jeal·ous·y** /ˈdʒɛləsi/ **jel**-_uh_-see**_–noun, plural _-ous·ies for 4.**

**1. jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself.**

**2. mental uneasiness from suspicion or fear of rivalry, unfaithfulness, etc., as in love or aims.**

**3. vigilance in maintaining or guarding something. 4. a jealous feeling, disposition, state, or mood.**

**-----------------------------------------**

**Chaputa muttsu: The Love letter In Question**

Sakura Mikan trudged to school unhappily, her amber eyes darting occasionally around her surroundings warily.

How could one be happy when there was a giant thundercloud floating behind one? The thundercloud in question was one leader of the HNFC, who was emitting sparks that formed the words 'She raped Natsume-sama' into the air as she hovered behind Mikan, a very dark atmosphere surrounding her.

Beside Mikan, an amethyst-eyed female sat serenely on a floating mechanical duck, oblivious (or rather, too lazy to care) to the fact that her best friend was the target of a mad, deranged fangirl.

Imai Hotaru had much more important things on her mind than to worry about the safety of the brunette beside her, things like Valentine's Day presents from her boyfriend, the very beleaguered Nogi Ruka.

For the brunette, she was busily looking over her shoulders for any signs of glinting metals or eyes for that matter in the small shrubs they were passing by apprehensively. Even for a baka, she was able to detect the enormous amount of killer intent from the black-haired female.

So there they were, the oddest pair of best friends one would ever see in the academy, one nonchalant, the other afraid for her life, moving towards school for yet another day in their lives as students of Alice Academy when _it _happened.

It started with a small snow-white rabbit bounding across the grounds to meet them, a rose clenched between its teeth.

As it bounded its way towards the oblivious pair, loud coos of 'kawaii!' and heart-shaped eyes followed it as it made its long and arduous journey.

Mikan was the first of the two to notice the incoming rabbit.

The brunette blinked a few times before a smile spread across her face and she crouched down with one hand outstretched to stroke the rabbit's fur as it reached them.

"Ooohhh, is that for me?" Mikan beamed happily as she reached out to take the blood-red rose from the rabbit, only to have to slip from beneath her stroking hand and hopped over to look up adoringly at Hotaru.

"I think it is for you Hotaru!" the brunette got out excitedly, her amber eyes shining as she looked up wide-eyed at her violet-eyed friend.

Unlike the very eager looking brunette by her side, Imai Hotaru was emitting a very bad vibe, a glint in her usually impassionate violet eyes.

She was looking at the rabbit as though she would like to throw it far far away from her.

If one looked really closely enough, one would notice that her gaze was NOT fixed on the rabbit; rather it was on the innocent rose clamp between its teeth.

She opened her mouth, seemingly to say something, when a sharp whistle distracted her.

As one, all the students milling nearby tilted their heads back as a dark shadow swept across the school grounds.

Together with them, intense and murderous looking violet eyes pierced the sky as the huge pack of twittering birds approached at breakneck speed.

With the chirping at an almost deafening pitch, the birds swooped down as one gigantic entity towards the stone-faced Hotaru, their beaks opening together as blood-red roses seemingly rained down from the sky, together with a couple of stray feathers and a few bird droppings.

Feathers and bird droppings aside, we find ourselves looking at arose covered Hotaru, eyeing a certain blonde unpleasantly as he emerged a few meters in front of her and a starry-eyed Mikan.

An impatient hand reached up and jerked off a stray petal that had lodged behind her ear.

If looks could kill, Ruka would have died many times over in the most creative ways mankind has never witnessed before.

However, the blonde was oblivious to the look on his girlfriend's face or the positively black atmosphere that surrounded her, so nervous was he in wondering what his girlfriend's reaction would be to this surprise he spent most of last week thinking up.

Reaching her, he dropped down on one knee, much to the delight of the females around, Mikan in particular.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He flourished a rose flower up to the violet-eyed girl, a tentative smile wobbling on his lips as his uncertain azure eyes searched her face for her reaction.

Hotaru finally opened her mouth, but what came out was not what everyone had expected.

"AAAAACHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A loud, breath-taking sneeze ripped through the grounds, jerking everyone's attention to the violet-eyed female who was looking worse for wear suddenly, a few red spots appearing on her pale skin.

She whipped out the Baka cannon, and with a single blast, blasted her boyfriend once on the head, a glint in her eyes as she stated, halting between sneezes.

" I. Am. –_sneeze_- Allergic. To. –_sneeze- _Roses."

With that, she fainted right away at his feet.

Oops.

-------------------------------------------

Mikan looked on mournfully as her best friend was carted off to the hospital for treatment for her allergic reaction to the roses her boyfriend had showered her with literally, Ruka trailing behind worriedly.

Hotaru had explicitly stated that only Ruka was to follow her to the hospital (which makes us fans of Nogi Ruka wonder if the blonde will survive whatever the violet-eyed female had in stall for him.) and that left Mikan to her own devices.

She let out a heartfelt sigh as she eyed the fair distance between the school building and herself from where she was standing.

It was so _farrrrr _away!

It was then she spotted something that solved all her problems.

Hotaru's floating duck.

Abandoned at the side when its owner met her 'mishap', the shiny surface of the invention glint a silvery white in the pale sunlight, it was an irresistible beckoning to anyone, anyone at all, to climb on.

A smile broke across her face as she ran over to the contraception and climbed on gracelessly.

After all, if she didn't say anything, who would know?

Now then, where was the start up button?

Amber-eyes fell on a huge purple button on the head of the duck.

A gleeful smile spread on her lips and she reached up to push it.

Nothing.

Hmmm…maybe it is that green button over there-

"KYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

-------------------------------------------

**Meanwhile, in classroom B…**

"He isn't going." The dejected statement from Mochu had the small gathering sighing together in despair.

Youichi, the only minor there, let off a small ghoul as a statement of his disappointment.

Perched on a desk, Koko tapped a finger against his jaw as he added thoughtfully, "We can't give up now after all we did to get them together."

The others nodded vigorously, thoughtful looks on their faces.

After having been forced to see both Natsume and Mikan pretending and being (respectively) oblivious to the feelings that they so obviously had for each other, their close friends came together with a fool-proof plan to bring them together.

"All that writing of the love letters…" Anna sighed out.

"And stuffing his room full of roses and chocolates…" This came from Nonoko with a doleful look on her face.

"Not to mention having to haggle with Imai (shudders) so that she would agree to have Natsume seeing her and Ruka in a compromising position…" Koko finished up with a forbidding look on his face.

"That cost me three thousand rabbits…" Yuu uttered miserably as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Although we do have to say that the entrance of the HNFC was a plus bonus for us," Kitsuneme grinned as he added.

A small snort of laughter escaped all the occupants as they remembered the look on Natsume's face at the scene of the 'sixteen panties in a row' debacle.

"Shouda, are you still mad?" This was from Mochu, who cast a questioning look at the sulking female seated far away at the side of the classroom.

"Hmph!" Was all the answer he got from the female.

Due to the lack of 'human resource', they had no choice but to cast Sumire as the villain of the whole thing and she was still none too happy about appearing as such in front of her beloved Natsume (though she had somewhat given up on him reciprocating her feelings).

Shrugging, he turned back to the impromptu meeting.

"We need to come up with a plan to get him to go." Yuu continued to nods of agreements. "Or, if worse comes to worse, we will have to take his place."

--------------------------------------------

With a heart-rending shriek, Sakura Mikan found herself hurtling off the speeding contraception and landing butt-first onto the marble-grounds of the school corridors.

"Itai…" She moaned out as she rubbed her sore backside before shaking a fist at the already disappearing speck that was Hotaru's favorite transportation.

Apparently, it had been the wrong button to press and instead of the normal speed it moved at, it had zoomed off at an inhuman speed that had caused its rider (aka Mikan) to scream her lungs out.

Left to her own devices again, she picked herself up from the floor grudgingly, swiping off the dust on her skirt and headed towards the classroom, grumbling about the machine as she did so.

Upon reaching the slightly opened door, she placed a hand on the handle, planning to enter when she heard the mumble of voices within.

Curious, she shifted nearer to the slit, crouched like a crab, the muffled voices becoming clearer.

"-if worse comes to worse, we will have to take his place."

Yuu?

Mikan peeped through the slit and saw half the gathering of her classmates within.

Were they having a meeting?

And what did they mean by take his place? Who was _his _referring to?

Even though she knew it was bad to eavesdrop, curiosity finally overcame cautiousness and she pressed her ear against the slit.

"Lets see…Do not let Mikan-chan know that Natsume is not going to the Ball."

Ball? What ball?

Basketball? Soccer ball? She didn't know you could go to a ball. Well, it is so small and there is like no opening…

Mutters of agreements met the announcement by Yuu, drawing Mikan's attention from her futile attempt at deciphering what Yuu meant.

"If she knows that Natsume is just using her as a shield against those maniac fan girls, she would be so hurt." Mochu's voice floated out.

Amber eyes widened in shock.

This she understood.

Natsume was…using her? All this while?

Her mouth drooped down slightly from the light smile she always carried on her face, inexplicable hurt throbbing through her.

He was using her all this while and she…had willingly gone along like the idiot she was.

They still hadn't finished.

"So Koko, you will go to the ball disguised as Natsume. Make sure Mikan doesn't know."

By the time the last word was said, Mikan was no longer listening.

She was glancing out of one of the tall windows that lined the corridors, her expression strangely blank.

Slowly, a tear bright as the facet of a diamond slipped down her cheeks, unbidden.

Sakura Mikan finally understood the meaning of heart-break.

--------------------------------------------

**Back in the classroom...**

"It won't work." The declaration came from the silent Sumire, who had finally risen from her stupor and was looking at them, her olive eyes glinting.

"Demo naze?" the chorus came from Anna and Nonoko and was echoed by nods from the rest.

"Because it won't solve anything! It wouldn't bring the two of them together!"

'Ooh's and 'Ahh's filled the air.

"So what we need is a … "She paused dramatically as the rest leaned closer in anticipation "LOVE LETTER!"

"To Natsume?"

The seemingly innocent question was rewarded with an elbow on the head by Sumire.

"To Mikan of course!"

By now, Koko's face had an eerily knowing smile, probably from reading the whole plan from Sumire's mind.

"And we 'accidentally' drop it somewhere Natsume would see-"He continued knowingly.

"-and he will get jealous and go to the Ball!" Sumire finished up triumphantly with a wide smirk.

Claps and cheers met the declaration with gusto.

"So now all we need is to write one and slip it onto Mikan's desk… …"

--------------------------------------------

**Ten minutes later…**

The letter was written and the scene set.

Now all they need was the hero of this extremely angst-y tale to notice it.

Natsume was slouched in his seat as usual and ignoring everything around him, much to the annoyance of the conspirators, owners of the diabolical minds behind the 'Get-Natsume-and-Mikan-together' club.

They had done everything to get his attention to the letter in pink lying on Mikan's desk to no avail.

Finally, desperate, they decided to initiate Plan Desperado.

Step one: Koko walks over to Natsume to 'speak' to him.

Step 2: Koko trips over imaginary object on floor.

Step 3: To 'regain' his balance, he reached out 'desperately' to grab Mikan's desk in front of him.

Step 4: He 'accidentally' sweeps off the letter from Mikan's desk to Natsume's feet.

Step 4 fulfilled, it was now up to Natsume to make everything work.

Anticipation rose as Natsume's crimson eyes flickered to the letter lying at his feet.

Heart beats soar as Natsume bent down to pick it up.

Blood pressure rose as his eyes narrowed at the name on the letter.

And narrowed further.

And further.

And further.

And further.

And further.

Finally, impatient to know the outcome of their plan, Koko prompted, "What is that?"

Natsume never answered.

There was a sharp ripping sound as he tore open the letter and pulled out the contents within, oblivious to the satisfied grins that suddenly filled the faces of his classmates.

There, written in multiple colored markers…was the worse and least unromantic love letter Natsume ever saw.

_My love♥_

_When I first saw you, my heart went pittar-patter like an animal stampede, just like when I see my favorite fish and chips! ♥♥ _

_Your hair is like the color of my favorite chocolate pudding and it makes me wish I could gobble it up in one go. But that would leave you without hair, so I shall just proceed to admire it from afar and from near! ♥♥ _

_Your eyes are like bitter chocolate balls, so bitter it is hard to look at you ♥ __yet I am bowled over by the sheer…chocolaty-ness of them! ♥♥_

_Your skin is as shiny as the pureness of white chocolate at its best and it makes me wonder if you would melt if you walk out into the sun! The very thought fills me with awfulness so I cried the whole day yesterday ♥♥ _

_And your ears...kyaaaaa! ♥♥__ They are like the superior sausages I have for breakfast!♥♥ _

_I shall await you at the Valentine's Day Ball tonight, my lovely Princess! ♥_

_Dazzle me with your beauty by sleeping early tonight (eyes-bags are SO unsightly) ♥_

_Until then, sleep tight and know that when your right eyelid twitches, it is because I am thinking of you! ♥♥_

_From your secretest secret admirer since yesterday ♥ __Muacks ♥ _

_Secret admirer _

_PS: I would tell you my name, but then it wouldn't be secret anymore and if it wasn't secret anymore, I can't be called Secret Admirer and then I would have to change my name and it is so troublesome and so I shall stick to NOT telling you my real name but that makes me wonder if you are suffering because of it so I am reconsidering here whether I should tell you my name but then again, if I did, I have to change my alias from secret admirer to secret admirer with a name and it will require more ink so lets stick to the Secret Admirer! ♥♥_

_(Manufacturer: Kokoroyumi and co™) _

There was a loud crinkling sound as Natsume balled up the paper and a thwack as it hit the wall behind him.

As sudden as the sudden movement, a ball of flame suddenly consumed the paper until there was nothing left but ashes.

Natsume tucked his hand back into his pocket and snapped, "Mochu. Central Town. Now."

With that, he stormed out of the room, deadly intent in his every step.

Koko grinned.

"Plan Desperado: Success!"

**-----------------------------------------**

**a/n: Sorry if this is a tad rushed, because I really need to go in a few hours time and i haven't packed (queen of procrastination XD)...gomen ne..do point out any mistakes you see okay? thanks!**

**The big finale is up next! What with the ball, Hotaru in hospital and a seething Natsume, this might just turn out to be the most entertaining Valentine's Ball ever in the history of gakuen alice! (this last chapter will be out after the 23th of december because i'll be off on a cruise trip :'))**

**also, please support my new fic **kuro neko **arigatou!**

**make my day and drop a review!**


	7. Chaputa Shichi: Yes

**. G for Girlfriend .**

. Snowmirage .

**-----------------------------------------**

**. Summary .**

Valentine's day is here! And Natsume makes Mikan his girlfriend? What is going on? Has the bug called l.o.v.e. finally caught up with our dashing enigma? Or is there something darker at work here? Expect OOCness

**-----------------------------------------**

_The most unexpected things we do for love,_

_And the most unexpected things love does for us._

**----------------------------------------**

**. L.O.V.E. Dictionary .**

**yes** (yěs)

adv. It is so; as you say or ask. Used to express affirmation, agreement, positive confirmation, or consent.

n. _pl._ **yes·es**

**An affirmative or consenting reply. ****An affirmative vote or voter. **

**tr.v. yessed, yes·sing, yes·es  
To give an affirmative reply to. **

interj. Used to express great satisfaction, approval, or happiness.

----------------------------------------

**Chaputa ****Shichi: Yes**

_He used me, he used me not, he used me, he used me not… _

The little chant worked its way into the brunette's head as she plucked off the bright yellow petals of the sunflower she was twirling in her hand one by one.

Lazily, the shorn petals drifted their way to land around where the brunette was seated, the bright yellow startling against the dark red of her skirt.

_He used met, he used me not… _

There it continued, the little routine that went on for a few minutes, until things finally came to a head.

She looked down desolately at the single petal left attached to the flower.

Slowly, she reached down to pluck it off.

_He used me. _

_… _

_He USED me _

_…. _

**_HE USED ME. _**

…

…

Then…

"Natsume BAKKKKAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Talk about a complete change in mood.

----------------------------------------

Mikan was still fuming about a certain ebony-haired boy as she turned a corner around the white corridors of the hospital, the bouquet of sunflowers (cousins to the one she demolished earlier) and a box of Howalons clutched in her fist.

_Stupid Natsume! How _dare _he use her? _

_She'll keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll him when she sees him! Hmph!!!! _

_Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. _

It was in this manner that Mikan made her way to the hospital's room 64, her mouth in a tight line that spoke of displeasure and tortures to come in the near future.

But before she could reach for the handle of the door that led to Hotaru's hospital room, the door burst open, giving her a glimpse of her best friend's stoic face before the view was obstructed by pink and purple.

Out came Anna and Nonoko, their faces holding identical grins that simply widened as they saw Mikan.

"Mikan-chan!" They chorused out together, "Ikkuyo!"

"Eh? Eh? Nani? Demo Hotaru-"

Without any preamble, each hooked an arm under Mikan's underarms and dragged her away.

The last thing she saw was Hotaru giving her a little wave and the scary smirk on her face before the door slammed shut.

"WHAT IS GOING OOONNNNNN?????"

-----------------------------------------

Inside the hospital room, a certain violet eyed female stuck out a hand to a visibly sweating Yuu.

"That will be one hundred and twenty-five rabbits." She got out calmly, eyeing the olive-haired male serenely.

"Eh?" A horrified look etched onto Yuu's face.

"That was for the box of Howalons I saw Mikan holding. Since your plans deprived me of it, I demand monetary compensation." She smiled pleasantly as Yuu dug into his wallet unhappily before handing over the gold pennies into Hotaru's outstretched hand.

Suddenly, the pleasant smile was replaced by a serious look and a hand reached out to grip his arm gently.

"Don't let him hurt her." She stated softly.

Yuu nodded, knowing that despite her uncaring attitude towards the brunette, Hotaru really cared for Mikan.

"Or," She whipped out the gleaming Baka Cannon and caressed it, "Die by this."

Frantic nodding ensued.

With that problem assured of, Hotaru leaned back into the soft fluffy pillows she had specified for her well-being during her stay.

"Ruka," She called out sweetly to the blonde who had been quietly sitting at the side of the room. "Get me Howalons from Central Town."

Yuu, watching from the sidelines, could only sweat drop and pity the blonde who had chosen Imai Hotaru of all people as his girlfriend.

She offered the two gold coins mutely to the long-suffering blonde, the pleasant smile, the kind that would send shivers down one's spine, back in place.

"Remember whose fault it was I ended up here." She added on for good measure.

"Hai." He sighed out resignedly before trudging out of the hospital room.

After all, what was a boyfriend for if not for manual labour?

-----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the heart of central town, our erstwhile protagonist was blazing a trail literally through the shops in his last minute shopping trip.

"Ties." A certain crimson-eyed flame-caster snapped out impatiently from where he was lounging on a very comfortable leather sofa.

Almost immediately, the manager of Lasile's Boutique for Men produced an array of silk ties on a black velvet tray ranging from bright neon orange to a glistening black-blue.

"Your choice sir?" The manager, a primp looking balding guy in his forties asked deferentially, his posture at a rigid sixty degree bent as he waited for the famed Black Cat to make his choice.

Having suffered numerous burns in the past when he accidentally annoyed the volatile crimson-eyed, he-who-wishes-to-live-longer-than-die-an-inconspicuous-death-by-being-barbequed has put all of his will power into making sure that he gave Hyuuga Natsume, star principal student of the Alice Academy the best service he has to offer.

On the other hand, Natsume, having gone through the tortures of shopping for the last hour, was feeling exactly as a male forced to undertake shopping: grumpy.

Faced with ties printed with hearts, bunnies, piyos and such, our beloved hero was filled with a sudden urge to burn something.

"…"

Faced with silence and an extremely black look on his customer's part, the manager quickly summoned up a bright smile and swapped a new box full of ties.

"How about this?"

This tray held the more classic ties, and of course, the more expensive ones.

Crimson eyes scrapped a look through the selection before he lifted a hand and languidly lifted a tie done in solid, beautiful deep amber that shimmered in the soft white lighting.

It was a shade of amber one could drown in, a color the exact shade of her eyes.

"I'll take this."

-----------------------------------------

For now, let us take a step away from out intriguing hero and move onto our heroine, who was feeling very confused and under attack at the same time.

After being dragged manually by the two usually gentle girls to a room, Mikan found herself inside none other than … Shouda Sumire's room.

Kami-sama.

The brunette quaked and squawked in protest as the lovely olive-haired female appeared, a terrifying look on her face.

Coupled with the gleaming scissors held in her hand as she towered over the brunette, Sumire formed a lovely counterpart to Jack the Ripper.

"Don't kill me! Onegai! I am too young to die!" Cowering, Mikan cried out as she squeezed her eyes shut desperately.

"Nani?" Sumire's derisive snort had the brunette peering out cautiously from the shelter of her arms. "Who wants to kill you?"

"Eh? You are not going to kill me?" She ventured tentatively.

"No." One hand lifted to flick back olive strands as Sumire struck a pose, "I am going to give you a make-over."

Somehow, that sounded more terrifying than being killed.

-----------------------------------------

A piercing shriek ripped through the academy, turning heads throughout the campus towards the source: The Elementary branch dormitory.

Meanwhile, eavesdropping outside the very door all the noise was coming out from, Koko and Kitsuneme were laughing and wincing at the same time to the sounds emitted within.

"Itai! My hair!" Laugh.

"Stop moving!" _Thwack. _Wince.

"Nooooooo!" _Crash. Bam_. Wince.

"Put it on before I kill you!" Something shattered. Laugh.

"Why am I being forced to do thissssssssssssssssssssss!!!!????" _Crash. _Wince.

"Because!" _Crack _Wince.

"ITAI!" Laugh.

Koko straightened with a sigh together with Kitsuneme, identical grins on their faces.

"Let's go see how Natsume is doing!"

-----------------------------------------

"Mikan, stop struggling!" Anna pleaded as she tried to get the brunette to cooperate by sitting still while they did her hair.

Sumire had already trimmed the wavy locks and brushed it until it had a deep shine.

But that was exactly the problem.

_She wanted to tie her hair. _

"Wahhhhh! Let me tie my hair! I feel weird not tying my hair!" She wailed out as she tried to grope for the twin rubber bands held just out of her reach by a very annoyed Sumire.

"NO!" Sumire growled out.

Her mouth trembled in the classic I-am-going-to-cry-soon expression as she turned watery eyes onto the three girls, two of which she had thought to be her good friends.

"It is no use trying to look at us that way, "Sumire snapped out, raising the paper fan that came out of no where and whacked the brunette soundly in the head.

Two minutes worth of more puppy eye looks later, Sumire finally caved in.

"All right all right! You can tie your stupid hair!" She snapped out, thrusting a gold rubber band at Mikan.

Happily, Mikan reached for the band, prepared to scoop up her hair into its customary buns when Sumire stopped her cold, "But NOT in ponytails."

A pair of shocked amber eyes clashed with glinting olive green ones.

"But-bu-but-"

How could she NOT tie her hair in ponytails?

What OTHER hairstyles are there in this dismal world?

Oh, what would the world be if she was _never_ to tie her hair in her ponytails again?

The sun will never shine! Spring will never come! The plants will slowly die away-

_THWACK! _

"ITAI!" The brunette howled out in protest as the blunt end of the hair-dryer Sumire held in her hand connected with her head.

"Stop being melodramatic!" The olive-eyed female snapped out before she moved to attack Mikan's hair herself.

Then Mikan remembered something.

She hadn't spoken out her thoughts.

So…**why would Permy know about what she was thinking about? **

Unless she was…

Her mouth forming a little 'o' of awe that was reflected in the vanity mirror, she looked up with new-found respect at the girl who was currently twisting the honey-brown locks into a decent hairstyle.

"Permy, are you _psychic_?"

"No." The object of her admiration said shortly, "You are just too obvious."

Before Mikan could defend herself to that _very _unfair statement (not), Sumire interrupted.

"There. Isn't this better?"

There, in place of the customary ponytails, was a sleek chignon that gleamed in the light of the setting sun.

"You are beautiful, Mikan-chan!" Nonoko and Anna chorused out happily as they rushed over to hug the brunette, who was too busy gaping at the 'new' her. "Sumire-chan you are so brilliant!"

"Of course." The self-assured answer was accompanied by a flick of her olive hair.

Mikan, at that very moment, remember something _extremely _important.

"Ano…why are we doing all this?"

Her innocent question was rewarded with three different reactions.

One incredulous look from Sumire.

Two guilty looks from Anna and Nonoko.

Three loud squawks as the hairdryer made friends with the brunette's head permanently, forming three throbbing, lovely bumps on the brunette's head.

"We are doing this for you and Natsume!" Sumire announced loudly above the din Mikan was making as she moaned over the new bruises formed just a second ago.

"So Mikan-chan will be happy!" Anna and Nonoko smiled as they clapped their hands together in glee.

"Me and … Natsume?" The words stuttered out as Mikan blinked disbelievingly.

"Yup, so now all we have to do is to get this dress," She pulled out a beautiful sky-blue gown from a box, the long skirt of the dress pooling in folds as Nonoko held it up towards the light for inspection. "On you."

"But..but it isn't mine." Mikan whispered out in awe as she reached out to touch the shimmery fabric.

It was smooth to touch, the silk flowing through her fingers like sleek tendrils of water.

"It was Hotaru's but since she isn't able to attend the ball, she requested that you take it because she knew you wouldn't be prepared for the ball tonight."

"Demo-"Before Mikan could protest, Sumire took the dress from Nonoko and shoved it into Mikan's hands.

"Just put it on! We have only an hour left to the ball!"

"Hurry Mikan-chan! Just imagine how Natsume will react when he sees you!"

_If she knows that Natsume is just using her as a shield against those maniac fan girls, she would be so hurt. _

"Natsume wouldn't care." She mumbled out softly under her breathe, her amber eyes trained on the ground.

Silence fell as Sumire, Anna and Nonoko exchanged worried looks.

"What are you talking about?" Anna asked gently, a hand reaching out for Mikan's shoulder.

"He wouldn't care because he never cared about me."

"Don't talk nonsense! How would you-"

"I heard you all talking. Back in the classroom." Horrified looks met each other across the room as hurt amber eyes lifted and looked accusingly at them.

Anna and Nonoko looked at each other miserably.

"Is that all?" Sumire 'hmmph'ed.

Startled, Mikan turned to the girl who had proclaimed herself as Natsume's devoted fan girl for so long.

"The Sakura Mikan I knew wouldn't be put down by such a small thing!" She proclaimed, her green eyes flashing.

Mikan felt a small smile tug at her lips.

Permy was right. Why should she, Sakura Mikan, be put down by such a heartless person?

"Arigatou Permy!" Beaming, she flung herself onto the olive-haired female, causing her to stumble back a few steps with a yelp.

"Get off me Sakura! And my name is NOT Permy!"

"Hai Permy!"

Yosh! She will confront Natsume later! Do not underestimate the power of Sakuras!

"Sakura! Change! Now!"

"Hai Permy!"

"And it is NOT PERMY!"

-----------------------------------------

The sun was setting, casting a deep orange glow across the pristine white pillars of the academy.

The lamps lining the way to the reception hall where the ball was held lit up almost magically, the fire balls within emitting a soft orange glow, replacing the fading light from the sun.

Sakura blossoms flirted in the wind, pale pink against orange, as students milled into the hall, ball gowns and tuxedos aplenty.

It was a night for romance, a night of confessions, a night made solely for couples in the academy to enjoy and for bachelors and bachelorettes to find their one true love.

Candles charmed to float midair around the hall illuminated the hall, decorated with hearts charmed to blow kisses at those passing by and cupids to serve as waiters and to shoot arrows at the love struck ones.

Pink silk cloths decorated the hall, forming curtains at the sides of the hall and strips of it were woven across the ceiling.

In short, it was haven for the girls and hell for the guys.

For Mikan, she was barely taking in all the sights.

The dress was wonderful, giving her shapeless figure all the flattery and boosting it needed. Off-shoulder, the silk of the gown felt wonderful on her skin.

For this night, Sakura Mikan shone.

And she was not the only one who felt it.

Standing by herself without the scary Hyuuga and intimidating Imai flanking her, Mikan found herself surrounded in by guys she never knew asking her for a dance.

Even though she had refused one after another, they kept coming, until Mikan was forced against one of the pillars, an uncomfortable smile on her face.

_Where is Natsume when she needed him? _

Just when she thought she was going to scream, the crowd parted.

And there, through the opening, was Hyuuga Natsume, resplendent in his formal attire.

He was dressed in black, as was most of the party goers, but he stood out amongst them all, a falcon amongst the peacocks.

Mikan stood there frozen, captivated by the mesmerizing crimson eyes as he neared her with sure steps.

He stopped in front of her, a fallen angel who had answered her pleas when she needed him and was just about to say something when Mikan remembered something.

_So Koko, you will go to the ball disguised as Natsume. Make sure Mikan doesn't know. _

So it really isn't Natsume after all.

Mikan let out a sigh before summoning up a bright smile for Koko, who was disguised as Natsume.

"You really did a wonderful job disguising as Natsume, Koko-kun." Mikan sighed as she reached out to nick a glass of fruit punch from a passing cupid.

Around them, the crowd was slowly dissipating away now that the scary Hyuuga was back, leaving the two alone.

A startled look passed Koko-Natsume's eyes.

"But you really don't have to do this." Mikan continued without giving the mind-reader a chance to cut in.

She slurped one mouthful of punch before passing out the glass to Koko.

Koko looked dubiously at the glass before raising it to his mouth for a sip.

"I know all about Natsume using me."

At this, Koko choked as he spat out the mouthful of punch in his mouth.

"Koko! Daijobu?" Mikan rushed over in shock and started thumping on Koko's back to help him.

"Really, did you have to get so agitated? I am fine…it is just that..." Mikan trailed off.

Coughing fit over, Koko straightened as he fixed a stare at the brunette who was still talking away, her amber eyes fixed on a distance away.

"At first I felt hurt, that Natsume would use me. Then..then..I don't know." Mikan sighed.

"Do you…like him?" Koko spoke up for the first time, crimson eyes sharp as they roved over the female's face.

"Whao Koko, you even _sound_ like Natsume." Mikan took awhile to admire the latter's acting skills before she remembered his question.

"I…I…" A deep blush stained her cheek. "I guess…I do."

Then she looked up desperately at Koko. "Do you think he likes me too?"

Before he could answer though, someone bounded up to them, someone very familiar.

Someone like Kokoroyumi.

"Hey Mikan-chan! Nice dress!" Koko beamed at them before he suddenly spotted Yuu.

"Hey Yuu! Wait up!" With that he was gone into the crowd, leaving the suddenly very quiet couple behind.

Mikan was furiously working out her mind and jumbled up thoughts, because if that was the real Koko just now…and there was a Koko in front of her, it would only mean that one was fake...then the Koko-Natsume in front of her would be…

Hyuuga Natsume himself.

KAMI-SAMA.

AND SHE ACTUALLY ASKED HIM WHETHER HE LIKED HER OR NOT.

Mikan cringed as her face went aflame.

At that moment, all Mikan wanted to do was to borrow the Digging Alice and dig herself the deepest hole where she could hide in for the rest of her life.

She couldn't meet Natsume's eyes, which she was sure was smirking at her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and crouched down, hoping that everything will somehow go away if she did that.

She heard the little _clop _of Natsume's shoes against the marble floor as he moved closer and silently willed him away.

_Go away. Go away._

"Will you dance with me?"

She started as a white gloved hand found its way to the front of her face.

That was definitely _not _what she had been expecting.

She glanced upwards almost tentatively, meeting crimson eyes that were not smirking at her, but simply looking at her, asking.

He stood there patiently, ignorant of the stares they were getting; the Hyuuga Natsume holding out a hand to the Sakura Mikan crouched like a frog on the floor.

Slowly, she reached out and placed her hand in his, allowing him to draw her up.

One hand around her waist, one clasping her hand, they stepped out onto the dance floor and begin to dance.

Mikan, still embarrassed, didn't dare to look up, instead concentrated on the floor and their moving feet as though her life depended on it.

"As for your question," Natsume's voice broke through her reverie and she jerked her eyes up to his face.

"I am pretty sure Natsume likes her too."

Because there was never a change in expression as he said it, simply that unsmiling look, it took awhile for the meaning to get in.

Mikan gaped at Natsume for a while as he twirled her once, then a smile slowly blossomed until it threatened to extend beyond her face.

"Hontoni?" She asked softly, her amber eyes searching his frantically.

"Sakura Mikan, "he looked down at her this time, a small smile on his lips, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

A burst of laughter spilled out as Mikan wrapped her arms around Natsume happily.

"Yes. YES!"

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**. the end .**

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"Oi. Baka girlfriend."

"Nani?"

"You are stepping on my feet."

"Gomen!"

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**a/n: Finally! (stretches) It is done :') Don't worry, there will be a sequel to this which is already in planning so do look forward to it ya?**

**thank you all reviewers for making this fic such a pleasure to write! **

**Comments and such will be adored :')**


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